Thin's tips:

1. eat at sushi bar
2. try to find a restaurant where you can sit and eat at the bar.
3. If you are a woman, go to a "female" place like Laduree in Paris or similar "tea" salon that serves meals.
4. Dine in department store or museum restaurants. Lots of ladies here. Also, many single "staff" members eating by themselves on their dinner break.
5. Eat in the Food Hall of stores like Harrods or Galleries Lafayette or KeDeWe. There are plenty of food counters where you can dine without feeling uncomfortable.

Thin

Thank you for all your advice! I'm not sure why it's uncomfortable for me; I'm not usually self-conscious! And, it's not everywhere that I feel this way - I was fine eating solo in Rome and all over Switzerland & Germany, but very very uncomfortable in London...

Oh - I live in Germany - I would never sit at a table marked as Stammtisch (except for the restaurants where I belong there).

Oh, I LOVE Laduree!

Heather,

I'm pretty confident, outgoing, and not usually self-conscious either, but I agree certain cities or restaurants make me feel this way.

Thin gives some good ideas.

I will keep some of these suggestions in mind the next time I'm in Paris alone - which I hope is soon!!

gruezi

See this "Dining Alone" thread over on the Smart Travel Tips forum:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35145123

Lots of good tips (and 74 replies)

Heather your last comment was interesting. I was going to say that I I find eating solo in Paris very easy. I often see solo diners both male and female at both lunch and dinner in cafes and bistros. My last trip to London however I felt really uncomfortable eating solo. More than once I found it took some time to get someone's attention with the staff member's comment being something like "You're not waiting for someone?" This happened three of four times at dinner over the course of my week there.I guess women don't eat out alone??? If you travel solo eating solo is part of the game.

My observations:

Germans and Swiss mind their own business. They don't worry about other diners.

Italians are very family oriented and nosey. They will look at you when you eat alone and wonder where your family is.

British are also very nosey and opininated. They will make comments to others about person eating alone.
For example, "Matilda, that woman over there eating alone looks like she votes Labour." (See "Shirley Valentine.")

Americans will stare at someone eating alone, but they aren't wondering why the person is alone. They are thinking, "Is her Coach bag real or did she buy it on Canal Street?"

The Japanese are too busy taking pictures of the faucets in the toilet to even notice solo diners.

And Frenchmen are thinking, "A woman alone!!! I want to ##### her in the back seat of my Fiat."

Thin

I absolutely look forward to dining alone. Did it for years on business trips all over the world. I'm quite content with my own company, don't give a fig what nosy diners think of my family or lack of it, and spend my time catching up on my journal, or reading a book.

I do make a point of telling the host that I am dining alone, and that I require a table with enough light so I can read. It is also helpful to have some sort of gadget that holds one's book open. It is a pain, trying to hold a tome open to your place with an extra knife or spoon. The thing always slips off, you reach to grab it, and do an unintended page mark with gravy. I use a small plastic thing called a "Page Clamp Book Holder", that weighs little, takes up only a bit of space, and works well.

Happy dining!

:-)

I have a friend, a very courageous solo traveler, who finds her dining companion in the breakfast room every morning in the B&B's/pensiones she frequents. She simply makes conversation and when she finds someone she likes, she suggests dining together.Because of her fluency in other languages, she is often a real asset and folks seem to gravitate to her. Sometimes it is a couple, often another solo adventurer.

It doesn't always work, but it is surprising how many life-long pals she has made this way.

Proenza -- LOL!

I have to agree with Christina and Nukesafe comments.

thin -

thanks... you made me laugh.

gruezi

Thin, great observations, how true.

I posted a question on this topic a few weeks ago. The suggestion that really struck me was to dress up in something really nice. What a great idea! I sometimes feel intimidated in better restaurants, and knowing that I look my best will surely give me confidence.